The Man Who Broke the Gibbs Barrier
by Magistrato
Summary: Casefic* When NCIS must join up with Metro on a case, the team finds more than they originally would have thought when a certain cop joins their team. Sorry for the bad summary! Read and review please!
1. Case

The NCIS bullpen would have been quiet if there wasn't so much going on.

Gibbs sat silently in his desk, pretending to do paperwork as he listened to Tony and Kate's banter. He knew he should try to stop it, but he somehow knew the attempt would be futile, since it was only going to start again a few minutes later. McGee seemed in a trance by whatever he was doing on his computer, but with such a computer saavy person on the team, it's hard to know _what_ he's doing. Gibbs finally put his pen down, feeling wasted and was about to order his team to look at cold cases when his phone rang. Now the team was looking expectantly at him. He waited the two rings that he always waits, then picked up.

"Special Agent Gibbs," he drawled. A moment later, he scribbled down an address on a StickyNote and hung up.

"We have a case?" Tony was already on his feet excitedly.

Gibbs flicked a small nod. "Gear up; we've got three dead Marines. We're taken the case from Metro," he said. He tossed the keys to Tony as he grabbed his Sig Sauer and badge out of his desk. "Gas up," he orders.

Kate and Tony head to the elevator with McGee tailing behind.

"McGee!" Gibb's barked, stopping their youngest agent in his tracks. McGee spun around worriedly. "Boss?"

"You meet us there."

Still confused, McGee asks, "What am I doing before then?"

Gibbs smirked at the younger agent as he passed him on the way to the elevator and quips, "You're gonna get me a coffee!"


	2. Metro Toss

Arriving at an open field, Gibbs trudged out of the NCIS Crime Scene Van, watching with amusement as two of his nauseous agents clambered out of the car behind him.

"Boss, have you ever considered actually driving at the speed limit?" Tony wondered aloud. "I don't want to die, really... I mean, I'm not saying you're a bad driver, Boss, I just..." Tony cowered a little under the glare he was receiving from Gibbs. "Shutting up, Boss," he muttered.

Gibbs nodded, "Good thinking, DiNozzo..."

The three agents grabbed their gear from the back of the van and started towards where a police car sat silently. Seeing that Ducky hadn't arrived at the scene, the agents hung back a moment before a young man approached them. Kate's profiling side took in the young man quickly, seeing his sharp silver-gray eyes flicking all across the scene before him, his straight shoulders, and scraggly dirty blonde hair. Something told her that this man was trouble, but she waited for him to say something.

The young man stopped in front of Gibbs and mumbled almost incoherently, "Go along with this, will ya?"

Gibbs' face twisted in confusion, but before he could get anything out, the man started raising his voice, sounding frustrated and irritated. "LOOK, sir, I know that the victims are three dead Marines, but the crime WAS committed in our jurisdiction. This is a Metro case, whether you like it or not!"

Gibbs rolled his eyes, trying not to laugh, but managed to respond. "I don't CARE that these men were killed here or in China! These are MY Marines, making this MY case, so I suggest you stand down!" Gibbs dropped his voice so only their small group could hear. "What the hell is this about?"

The young man dropped his tone also. "I know this is your case... But you're a Marine, and if my Captian decides to brawl with you, there'll be trouble."

"I don't care if there's toruble! I can take any argument!" Gibbs beat back.

"Oh, I know you can take it... but I'm more concerned for the innocent bystanders! Plus, my Captain wants this case really badly for some reason and I might as well make a scene of it..."

Gibbs smirked at the young man, then flicked a nod, and the man continued. "NCIS can't have this case! That's my final word! And my Captain's! I don't want to hear any more of this crap from you 'agents'! It doesn't make a difference. Have a good day."

The whole time this exchange was going on, Kate and Tony stood stock still, holding in their laughter and pretending to take their Boss's side, which they didn't have to work hard at. A moment later, Ducky's M.E. van pulled up next to the Crime Scene van, where Ducky and Palmer climbed out, Ducky looked slightly miffed.

"Glad you two could make it," Gibbs remarked without turned around. Ducky huffed in the direction of his assistant.

"Once AGAIN, Mr. Palmer here has managed to get lost... I really MUST get one of those GPS doo-hickies for the van..." Ducky declared. Palmer looked ready to argue, but clamped his mouth shut, deciding against it. Just then, McGee showed up in his car and handed a cup of coffee to Gibbs, who looked pleased.

The young man let Ducky and Palmer move on to the body, and Tony turned a confused expression on the man. "You let them go to the scene and not us?"

The young man chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, the M.E. that gets here first basically gets the case... I can tell you all aren't M.E.s, so it made sense. Besides, I have to convince my Captain that I put up some sort of fight!"

The team laughed as they approached the scene. Gibbs looked puzzled when the young man followed. "We've got it from here, thanks," he said awkwardly. The young man laughed.

"Oh," he chuckled, "I haven't even introduced myself! Detective Casey Fogel, Metro PD." He put out a hand and everyone on the team shook it and introduced themselves.

Gibbs cleared his throat. "Well, like I said, we've got this covered. Thanks."

Detective Fogel laughed again. "Are you kidding me? I want in."

Gibbs took a step back and looked at the young man thoughtfully. There was something about Fogel that made him want to say yes... but he couldn't describe it. Maybe it was his smile, his eyes, or his infectious small laughs. Or maybe it was his cockiness and confidence. It could've been his cool and collected resemblance to Gibbs himself, when he was younger. Whatever it was, Gibbs hadn't a clue what it was, but before he could stop himself, he found himself nodding at Fogel, saying, "Sure, what the heck."

Fogel smiled widely at his feat, and the team walked comfortably back over to the crime scene.

"DiNozzo, shoot and sketch. Kate, bag and tag." Gibbs handed out the duties casually, saw that Ducky and Palmer were doing their work, then got out a notepad so he could talk to his new acquaintance.

"So what do you know so far?" he started.

Fogel pointed to each man as he shot off his information. "Private Ethan Betsch, age 28, just returned from a deployment to Iraq a couple weeks ago. Private Connor Neelson, age 31, was scheduled to leave for his third deployment to Pakistan in a little more than a month. Private First Class Dominic Pierce, age 30, returned from a deployment to Somalia about a week ago."

Gibbs scribbled down the information. "That it?"

Fogel snorted. "I just got here.. What do you expect?"

Gibbs shrugged. "How old are you?"

"25."

"Young for a detective."

Fogelt chuckled. "Says something about the detective, huh?"

Gibbs shrugged again. "Sounds like you're not on good terms with your Captain."

"Do you always interrogate people you work with?"

Gibbs chuckled at that. "Depends..."

The young detective looked out at the scene and the work being down, his eyes glazing over for a moment before he turned back to Gibbs, his eyes bright now. "Yeah, I guess you could say I'm not exactly 'Captain's pet'!" He paused for a second. "But I get the job done."

Gibbs acknowledged the statement and looked up to see that everyone was ready to go. "What now? Should we go to your headqyarters and let your Captain know what's going on?"

Fogel winced at the idea of confronting the Captain, but he nodded. "Sure, let's head out. This should be fun."


	3. Big Find

**Sorry it took a couple days to update!!! I manage to have a busy life even during the summer so I promise to update as often as possible!!! Hopefully daily, but don't quote me!!**

Gibbs was pleased to find that Detective Fogel was a bit like him- an insane driver. The younger man sped ahead of them in the police car like a maniac, and Gibbs had no trouble keeping up with him on the streets of Washington D.C. The entire drive, however, Tony was attempting to make movie references and Kate had half of her head out of the window, silently cursing the speeding drivers and her oblivious partner. McGee was keeping silent in the front seat, but Gibbs could tell he was only keeping his mouth shut so that he wouldn't puke. When the detective pulled into the precinct lot, followed by the agents, Gibbs had another gut feeling: this wasn't going to end well.

When Fogel met the agents outside of the main doors, Gibbs could tell he was forcing his smile, and almost hesitated going in. They swung the doors open and stepped into the Metro version of their bullpen soon. Fogel walked over to what Gibbs assumed was his desk and started pulling manila folders and files up for the agents. Approaching them again, he handed the folders to Gibbs.

"This is what I have so far on the case. The people, some possible leads, some ways to link them together, the evidence and autopsy files from other similar cases... and there _are _some eerily similar cases to this, so we can look at some of those cold cases. I know these cases and these files by heart, so read up!" Gibbs noticed that whenever Fogel started talking about a case, he became excited and restless; he probably didn't sleep a wink while there was a hot case happening.

Gibbs nodded a thanks and noticed a considerably large and angry-looking man striding towards them over the detective's shoulder. Seeing that Gibbs was looking behind him, he muttered, "Captain?" Gibbs flicked a small nod before he turned his attention towards the files.

"What the HELL are you doing, Fogel?! I said I wanted this case, not that you should just invite NCIS into it!" the man bellowed. Gibbs tried not to look up at the forming argument.

"Sir, I thought NCIS would have had more expertise in this. We don't have their resources, especially when the men killed were high-ranking Marines. It's not our case to control. I offered a joint investigation though and I think that's beneficial to the case." Fogel kept a cool head and level tone of voice that Gibbs could never had accomplished if the man had screamed at him. However, what happened next could never have been foreseen.

The Captain shoved the young detective in the chest with all of his strength, and with no time to react and nothing to grab onto, Fogel slammed his head on the corner of a desk and fell to the ground bleeding and unconscious. The bigger man swung a kick into the unconscious man's ribs before Gibbs took a swing at him. The other policemen and detectives there grabbed the Captain and pulled the raving and screaming man away while the NCIS agents stood in shock at the explosion.

Gibbs knelt down to check on Fogel, who remained unconscious, the back and left side of his face and head covered in blood. Without thinking, Gibbs handed the other files to Kate and placed a hand over the head wound, and seeing that it was still bleeding heavily, picked the younger man up and walked right out of the precinct, his agents in hurried pursuit.

McGee and Kate climbed into the backseat quickly and Gibbs laid the detective on their lap. "Keep his head steady," he ordered, then grabbing his jacket and placing it under the man's steadily bleeding head, said, "Keep it there." The man still wasn't responding to anything as Tony jumped in the passenger seat and Gibbs hit the gas and sped back to NCIS.


	4. Psh, what fun!

It turns out that Gibbs' plans were not to go to NCIS. He changed his mind halfway through the drive and he set his course for the safe house... which is his house. They pulled into the driveway in record time, even though he had slowed his speed from the normal 90 mph to 85 mph. He and Tony carefully carried Fogel into the house, and just as carefully laid him down in the guest bedroom. Kate made a speedy phone call as McGee looked frantically for something he could do to help.

The dial tone seemed to last for hours before there was an answer. "Hello?" came the light-hearted English voice of their M.E.

"Ducky, we need you to come to Gibbs' house right now," Kate answered, not bothering telling him why.

"My dear, I'm in the midst of the autopsies of our Marines!" Ducky told her, exasperated. He could hear Kate's nervous sigh on the other end.

"I know, Ducky... I'm sorry, but we've got a sort of medical emergency here and you need to be here _now,"_ she responded quickly.

Sensing the urgency and near-panic in her voice, Ducky made a quick "On my way," before he hung up the phone and ran to his car, leaving Palmer in charge.

Gibbs went to Kate, looking agitated. "Is Ducky here?"

"He's on his way now," Kate assured her boss. Something was discomforting about Gibbs right now. He had always been protective of his people; that much was obvious, since they'd worked in the field together for almost two years now. However, what troubled her most right now was that Gibbs had only met this young detective about two hours ago, and even though she had to admit that the young man had been rather charming for an average cop, she couldn't understand Gibbs' sudden protectiveness.

"Boss!"

Tony's worried shout broke into Kate's troubled thoughts like ice. There was something to the sound of worry, of complete helplessness that made her weak at the kness. What worried her more was Gibbs now. Before, his face only revealed agitation and disgruntlement. Now, his eyes radiated worry and... fear? All of a sudden, their fearless leader was showing fear and worry for someone he barely knew, and that was Kate's last thought on the matter as Gibbs raced to the guest bedroom.

On entering the bedroom, it seemed like nothing had changed. A closer look would reveal the young detective shiverieng uncontrollably, his pale skin standing out fantastically against his darker clothing and the navy blue bed sheets. Tony was sitting by his head, a wet cloth being held by his head wound, while McGee had an ice pack held firmly on his bruised ribs.

Gibbs made his way to the bed quickly, sitting on the other side of the young man's head. "Ducky's on his way," was all that he could force from his mouth.

Tony looked up at his boss, the same thing's Kate had been thinking running through his head. "He just started shivering like this. I don't know if it's from the cold... It's not that cold in here, Boss, so I doubt that. I'm positive he has a concussion though, but I've never known shivering to be a symptom of that..." Tony trailed off, finding that saying nothing may be a lot safer than playing a guessing game on the young man's condition.

"That's why we have Ducky, DiNozzo," Gibbs answered, but without his usual sarcasm.

Just at that moment, there was a knock at the front door, which Kate answered. Ducky went right to the guest bedroom, closely followed by a distressed-looking Kate.

"Ah... our young detective here seems to be in a bit of a predicament... He's in bad shape, Jethro... Please tell me it was not you!"

Gibbs smirked a little at that. "No Duck... his Captain lost control. He slammed his head on the corner of a desk. It knocked him out. The Captain kicked him in the ribs a couple times before we managed to get him away." Gibbs sighed, feeling a bit guilty for not being able to help the young man sooner.

"Has he woken up?" Ducky asked, leaning over to probe Fogel's head wound.

"Not yet."

After a few more minutes of silent probing, Ducky cleaned the detective's head wound and wrapped it up, then stood up, a sigh escaping his lips. "He certainly has a horrible concussion, Jethro. He should be okay, but I will say that his condition when he wakes up will not be a good one."

"What should I expect?" Gibbs asked nervously.

"Certainly nausea, dizziness, lack of balance, and he will be confused, Jethro. I don't want him to be alone..." Ducky eyed Gibbs hesitantly, waiting for a response.

"So he'll be okay?" Gibbs needed some sort of reassurance.

"Oh yes, no doubt he'll be quite fine with some rest and relaxation," Ducky said reassuringly.

Gibbs nodded a couple times, looking down at the woudned man. he made up his mind also. "He can stay with me," Gibbs said, almost so that no one could hear him. Ducky did.

"Well," Ducky said, "that settles everything! I trust you'll treat him well, Jethro." With a final yawn at the end of his sentence, he stood. "Well, if you'd excuse me everybody, I have three dead Marines to tend to also. Anyone who needs a ride back to NCIS for their cars, I'll be waiting in the driveway for another five minutes." With that, Ducky left the house.

Relieved with the news that Fogel would be okay, Gibbs stood and took the opportunity to talk to his team.

"Alright... tomorrow we begin work on this case. Detective Fogel is going to be staying at my house for the night, so I may be late in the morning. And he'll probably be accompanying me. So, go home and get a good night's sleep. We have a lot of work starting tomorrow."

No one argued since they were all exhausted. With some simple goodbyes and good-nights, soon the house was empty except for Gibbs and Fogel. Seeing that Fogel was still out cold, Gibbs settled down in the armchair opposite of the bed and waited for morning.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At three in the morning, Gibbs awoke to quiet moans coming from the bed. He leapt to his feet as fast as he could and wet a cloth before settling down next to Fogel. The moans got louder gradually, and suddenly the young man's eyes sprang open in a panic.

"Detective Fogel?" Gibbs asked.

The young man flicked his eyes back and forth, unfocused but lucid. "Casey," he answered, his voice shaking a bit.

Gibbs had to chuckle at the simple answer. At least he knew his name. "Year?"

"2005."

"Current President?"

"Do you always interrogate people you work with?"

Gibbs laughed openly now, now knowing for sure that the man knew what was going on. "Do you remember what happened to you, Detective?"

Casey rolled his eyes, exasperation apparent. "It's Casey, and yes, I know what happened to me... my boss beat the shit out of me."

Although he would not have put in such crass terms, Gibbs nodded. All of a sudden, Casey looked frightened.

"Help me up. I've gotta puke!" Casey yelped, so Gibbs assisted him to the bathroom, where Casey promptly poured out every meal into the toilet. After a while of coughing and spitting, he announced that he was done and Gibbs helped him back to the bed.

"Do you wanna get under the covers to sleep, Casey?" Gibbs asked innocently.

Casey looked up at him with a hint of a playful smile on his lips. "I don't roll that way, Agent Gibbs," he laughed good-heartedly. Gibbs bit back a smile and resisted head-slapping the man. _Once the concussion is gone,_ he thought,_ that's the FIRST thing he's getting._

When Gibbs looked down at the young man, he had fallen fast asleep, a small smile complimenting his features. Gibbs smiled also, and settled himself back into the armchair, again waiting for morning, pleased with the progress he's made with Casey.

***Hey guys, thanks so much for adding this to your favorites and alerts! I love writing this and I really hope you guys continue reading it as I update!! Please, please, please, read and review for me!!!! More reviews=faster updates!! thanks!! love, Magistrato XD**


	5. Laughing like a Child

***Sorry this took FOREVER... LOTS of work around the house and some upcoming travel plans... but that will never stop MAGISTRATO!!!!!!!! lol thanks for sticking with me people!**

The morning came a lot faster than Gibbs wanted it to, but when the sun began to shine through the curtains in the bedroom, he dragged himself to his feet and rubbed his fists into his eyes tiredly. All of a sudden, he remembered that he had a guest. He looked down at the bed only to discover that it was empty, and he made a quick run to the foyer of the house.

"Casey!" he called. He walked into the kitchen and saw the young man sitting at his table, sipping from a mug of coffee.

"Could you not scream so loud?" he asked. "I still have a bit of a concussion. I'm a little sensitive, ya know?"

Gibbs realized that he'd been holding his breath and released it in a heavy sigh, therefore relieving some of the worry which had been coursing through his veins since he'd seen the empty bed. He walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a mug of coffee, then made his way over to the table and sat down across from the younger man.

"Good coffee," Casey offered quietly. Gibbs laughed.

"Most people think it's too strong," he answered. This time Casey looked up with a fun little grin gracing his features. "It is."

The two men sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Casey jumped up. "Well, we have a lot of work to do!" He swayed for a moment and Gibbs rushed to help him. "Sit down before you fall down, Detective," he commanded and he helped him back to his seat.

"It's Casey," the younger man grumbled. Gibbs looked at the man in confusion. The man is suffering from a serious concussion, and he wants to rush back into work, which could possibly hurt his condition further, and he's worrying about his _name?_

"Right,_ Casey," _he said, "We DO have a lot of work to do, so you're going to follow my rules." Gibbs turned around to grab some more coffee and put away some of his dishes. "You ride with me at all times. I don't think I want you using a firearm with a head injury either... If I think you need a check-up, you go down to Ducky. He'll make sure you're okay to work. You're under MY supervision, so you listen to everything I say, got it?"

When he turned around, Casey was gone, yet again. _Where the HELL did he go???? _Gibbs ran through out the house, even to the basement, and the young detective was nowhere to be found. Finally, he opened to the front door, doubting that he was anywhere outside.

What he saw made him both laugh and make him more irritated. The younger man was sitting in the passenger seat of the Crime Scene Van, his seatbelt on, and the keys in the ignition. Gibbs walked out to the van, struggling to retain a serious facial expression so the man could see that he was angry. What the young man said a moment later dissolved him completely as he sat his the front seat, ready to go.

"You would be a suckish ninja, ya know that, Gibbs?"


	6. Introductions

***Oh my god, I'm sooooo sorry everyone!!! Prepping for school has been an utter NIGHTMARE, and I've been running around doing that for a while. Plus a new camp!!! Thanks for being so supportive!!!**

The drive to NCIS seemed to last for centuries for Gibbs, not because the younger man was talking, but because he seemed unusually quiet. Because of his concussion, Gibbs decided it would be prudent to try to stay within ten marks of the speed limit. Every couple of minutes, Gibbs glanced at Casey, wondering what was going on in his head. Gibbs had always found teenagers confusing and troubling; they were harder to read then any other adult. However, something about this twenty-five year old man stumped him beyond any teenager he'd ever met.

Finally, the two men made it to NCIS and parked as close to the entrance as possible so that the injured man wouldn't have to walk as far. When the younger realized they had arrived, he swung the door open wuickly and leapt out, but almost fell just as fast. He barely caught himself on the car door. Gibbs jetted out of his side and ran to the younger man and grabbed him so he wouldn't fall.

Casey just grinned goofily up at Gibbs. "Guess I'm a little dizzy..."

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Ya think, Fogel?"

Gibbs looped Casey's left arm over his shoulder as they were walking into the lobby to keep him from collapsing too badly. The lobby was already full and buzzing with people, and half of them were all passing greetings to Gibbs. "Look who's the popular man..." Casey chuckled under his breath and Gibbs had to grin at that. No one would've thought that he could be as popular as he was, but he even surprised himself when he realized how many people knew him and how many people he knew.

When they got into the elevator, Gibbs allowed the younger man to lean against the wall. "You okay?"

Casey looked up at Gibbs, his eyes slightly unfocused. "Just dandy, _boss_," he said, smiling at the title.

Gibbs smirked. "Not your boss."

Casey shrugged, dismissing the refusal simply. "I belong to you until this case is over, so I might as well call you _something_," he said. This time Gibbs shrugged.

When the elevator door opened, they were greeted with the sounds of plenty of activity and work being done. They made their way to the bullpen, Gibbs staying close and keeping a close eye on Casey to make sure he wouldn't collapse on him again. Gibbs went right to his desk and pulled out the chair and pointed at it. "Sit," he commanded.

Casey looked confused. "What?" He reamined standing, only for Gibbs to grab his arm, drag him around behind his desk, and plop him down in the seat. "Sit down before you fall down," he said, keeping a hand on Casey's shoulder to make sure he didn't try to get back up. And sure enough, that's what would happen.

Casey fought to stand back up. "I can stand fine. There's nothing wrong with me."

Gibbs laughed at Casey's futile attmempts to convince Gibbs that he was fine. "No, you're not. You've got a concussion and plenty more bruises. You sit."

With a "hmph" of annoyance, Casey stopped struggling, crossed his arms like an irritated child, and pouted pathetically. "You sound like my father," he grumbled.

"Your father tells you have concussions and bruises?"

At this, Casey tensed under Gibbs' hold for a moment and barely whispered out a "No... wish he cared enough to."

"What?" Gibbs asked, wondering if he'd heard what he thought he'd heard.

Casey's body loosened up a little and he wriggled free of Gibbs' hand, but remained sitting. "Nothing! I said I'm ready to work. What now? And where are those other people from yesterday?"

Right then, the elevator dinged and Gibbs turned and saw Tony, Kate, and McGee all come in. "Right here," he answered. Kate handed a cup of coffee to Gibbs, who nodded a thanks.

Tony immediately leapt to speak first. "Sorry we're late, Boss! Traffic this morning was brutal!"

Gibbs took a sip of his coffee. "I didn't hit any traffic."

Tony stared at Gibbs for a moment. "... Of course you didn't."

"Does Abby have the evidence from last night?"

"Uh, yeah. We gave it to her last night... I think she's been here all night too," Kate responded.

McGee looked up from his computer. "I bought her six Caf-Pows for her last night."

Casey switched his gaze to Gibbs. "The energy drink?"

"She runs on it," Gibbs chuckled.

"Ah."

Just then, Gibbs' phone rang, so he grabbed it and answered it. "Gibbs," was his curt answer. A moment passed and he hung up. "Going to see Abby."

He started to leave when he turned around and shot a small glare towards Casey. "Do you want an invitation?" he asked.

Casey smirked. "I'd like that."

Gibbs rolled his eyes for the second time of the day because of the young man, and he had a feeling it would only be the beginning of many. Instead of voicing his exasperation, he grabbed the man's arm again, yanked him to his feet and pushed him ahead. "You're going to meet Abby."

Casey grinned coyly. "Nice name," he said. "What does she do? Deal with you?"

Gibbs found himself rolling his eyes yet _again_, and could have slapped himself for it. "She's our forensic scientist." Gibbs waited for the elevator to open yet again, and the two men waited in companionable silence as the elevator dropped to the lab. When it stopped, Gibbs exited and walked straight into the lab, but the blaring, booming music jarred Casey back. The concussion made him five times more sensitive to loud sounds, and this certainly wasn't helping. In fact, he could almost feel the headache start to form.

Seeing Casey's discomfort, Gibbs walked right past the close-eyed, dancing Goth and switched the music off. Her dancing came to an abrupt halt and she almost yelled at the person who turned it off when she saw Gibbs. She squealed loudly, and Casey flinched again at the high-pitched noise.

She dove into a hug, expecting Gibbs to catch her. Of course, he did, but he faltered back a step due to her weight. "Morning, Abs," he muttered into her shoulder.

"Morning, Gibbs!" Abby bounced away and immediately started yapping. "So I heard that you might be late because you were helping one of the cops, which at first I was surprised at, but then I thought, '_you know it IS Gibbs,_' and he's such a good guy and loves to help people. I WAS mostly surprised when Tony told me that you had accepted to let the guy in on the case, and you didn't even ARGUE. Are you sick, Gibbs? Because that's just not you, and I want to make sure you're alright. And-"

Gibbs cut her off. He held back laughter as he said, "I'm alright Abs."

Abby pulled back for a second. "Wait... I sense another presence..." She spun around on her toes and spotted Casey standing near thr door.

"Are you him?" she asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowing. She began to walk towards him ominously. For a second, Casey could only stare, unable to move as Abby made her way towards him.

He laughed nervously. "If you mean 'him' by 'young cop who got the stuffing beaten out of him by his boss', then yeah, I'm him."

All of a sudden, Abby barreled at him, wrapping her arms around his torso tightly. "Awww, you poor _baby_!! How could someone hurt such a cute kid as you?"

Puzzled but happy, Casey returned the hug. That scene lasted for another minute before Gibbs interrupted.

"So what do got for me, Abs?"


	7. Too Much Information

***Yes, I know I should probably be put to death for making you people wait for this next chapter, so I've promised to make it good XD. Thanks so much for the alerts and reviews, and I'd love to see more of those too! love, Magistrato**

Abby bounced at the question. "Ohhh, Bossman, what do I got for YOU! I got barrels of rainbows, singing unicorns, and giggling flowers for YOU!"

Just then, Tony, Kate, and McGee came walking into the lab, all looking mildly interested. "What's this about giggling flowers I hear?" Tony laughed.

"I have evidence for you guys! And I'm on a roll!" Abby seemed far too hyper than she should've been at this time in the morning. She walked over to her computers with a bounce in her step, and while Tony, Kate, and McGee followed her to stand behind her, Gibbs moved around to face her. He was a bit surprised to find that Casey was following him around like a hurt, lost puppy. Well... really, that's what he was in NCIS. A hurt, lost puppy. Gibbs was jerked from his thoughts when Abby started talking evidence. He had made her promise to quit the geek speak for a while, and she was still on the deal. Now, he was more apt to listen.

"Alright, let's get this party started," she chirped gleefully.

"So, I took the three guy's shoes, which were fairly nice for three Marines, and I decided to take a swab from the bottom to see if there were any anomalies. Not only did I find undocumented soils, but what I found _in_ that soil, was a lot of lead. Are you sure they didn't work in a mine?"

"Abby," Gibbs warned with a small glare.

"Right," she said. "This dirt was all over their clothing, literally head to toe in it. Maybe they took a dirt bath. Who knows. A_nyway_, each man's evidence was close to identical. Except for ONE thing..."

Abby walked over to her Mass Spectrometer and hit a button. A small vile appeared, and inside of it, a blonde hair. "_This _baby was found on Neelson's clothing, snagged in a button on his uniform. None of these men are blonde, and I've already identified it as a woman's hair."

The team stared blankly at her, wondering what she was getting at. McGee took a swing at an idea. "Anomalies?"

Abby beamed. "Correct, McGee!! This is not a normal hair. Well, it IS a normal hair, because there's no such thing as an ABnormal hair, I mean, unless you count NO hair, which-"

Gibbs had placed a hand over her mouth to get her to stop rambling. He leaned in close to her face, and asked, "The point?"

"My _point_, my silver-haired fox, is that this woman both dyes her hair blonde and she is on heavy medication for bipolar disorder."

"Can you tell what medication?" Gibbs asked.

"It's being tested now. There are thousands of bipolar medications out there," Abby responded smartly.

"That it, Abs?" Gibbs asked.

Abby looked feigned shock. "GIBBS, I'm surprised at you! You know me better than that!"

"Huh," Gibbs grunted with a small smile.

Grinning widely, Abby walked over to her computer. "Not only did I find a lot of dirt, but there was also a lot of sand. Not beach sand though; like, industry sand," she rattled off, and seeing Gibbs opening his mouth to speak, she leapt to speak first. "And before you ask, Bossman, this sand was nowhere to be found near the crime scene."

Nodding a thanks, Gibbs walked back into the elevator, with Casey and the team in tow.

Back in the bullpen, Gibbs grabbed a chair and made Casey sit in it, then he and the rest of the team sat at their desks to brainstorm.

"DiNozzo, tell me about Private Ethan Betsch," Gibbs commanded. Tony shot out of seat, pulling a picture and some info onto the plasma.

"Private Ethan Maurice Betsch, age 28. Born and raised in Miami, Florida. He enlisted there at 19, and had a pretty boring existence until two years ago, when he was involved in a bar fight in Fairfax Virginia, a month before he left on an eight month employment to Afghanistan. No one pressed charges, but it still managed to get into his records. From the info I got, no recent girlfriends, and all family lives in Florida. People he worked with said he was a smart, outgoing guy."

"McGee," Gibbs said. McGee stood up.

"Private Connor Neelson, age 31. Born in Austin, Texas, but his father was in the Army, so he never had much of a definitive home. Attended most of high school in Maine though. He went to the community college studying pre-med there in Maine for three years before he left, where he joined the general work force in a store there. Lived in that area until he was 23, then enlisted in the Marines as a medic. His parents now live in Fresno, California, and his 27 year old sister is a pharmacist in Seattle. No known girlfriends, no recent contact with his family, and known as a quiet but nice man by people he worked with."

"Kate."

"Private First Class Dominic Pierce, age 30. Born in San Diego, California, but at age three, his family moved to Denver, Colorado where he went through school. He was recruited into the Marines after graduating, where he was trained like everyone else. His older brother is a casino manager in Atlantic City, New Jersey, his younger brother just graduated med school and is now practicing in Colorado, and his younger sister is studying cosmetology in New York City. Recently had a mutual break-up with his girlfriend of almost two years, and known as the partyer."

Gibbs leaned back in his chair, bewildered by all the information. "Did they ever meet up? In training, or what?"

McGee shook his head from his desk. "I tracked all of their records. They've never been in the same place at the same time."

Gibbs shook his head blankly. The three men were all completely different, in their childhoods, their attitudes, _everything. _And if there was no possible way that the men could have known each other, then how were they all found together, killed the same way, same time, with almost identical evidence? It didn't make any sense.

Gibbs was a little shocked when he heard Casey's voice.

"Check their phone records. And their Instant Messaging records if you can."

The team turned to look at him curiously. "Why?" Gibbs asked.

Casey stood up, putting his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels, and looked at the pictures of the three men on the plasma. He smiled.

"My gut."


End file.
